One of the great joys and great sorrows of the past fifty years of our Catholic Church has been the renewal of our liturgy (Our worship).
The big struggle is trying to bring our worship to actually be an action of the entire community. What we do at the Sunday Mass must never be something that is done to us but rather an action that we do together.
The fundamental value is that as everyone is meant to live and practice their faith, so everyone is meant to be an active participant in the Sunday liturgy. We must never sit there and remain as someone who just ‘receives.’ We are far enough away from the liturgy of the pre-Vatican council that we cannot remember that almost everything at the Sunday Mass was focused on the priest and the choir.
There have been many mistakes that have happened. For example, too many Catholics considered receiving Holy Communion was the only important part of the Sunday Mass.
The goal is not to ‘do’ the liturgy, but for everyone to enter into the mystery of Christ, give thanksgiving and then be sent forth into the world to make Christ present in our daily dealings with each other. The Sunday liturgy is very much about being empowered by the Holy Spirit to go worth and make Christ a reality in our world.
The prayers and proclamation of the leader are meant to bring the gathered people into the sacred mysteries that are being celebrated. The reader proclaims the Word of God in order to bring the congregation to encounter God coming among them. The leaders of song are meant to lead the congregation to give praise to the most Holy Trinity. Sharing in Holy Communion is meant to nourish the people with the very person of Jesus Christ. The final blessing is to send us forth to bring the presence of Christ into our society.
We mus always work to bring all pesons to fully participate in the sacred mysteries. This is an empowering act. It must never be something that is done to and for the people.
One of the best part of our Sunday mass is the final command: Go forth. Make Christ happen in your part of the world!
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